As malapropisms go, the one uttered this week by Richard Hills was a little too close to the truth for comfort. "I fully expect roadworks to be in place," the Ryder Cup director announced when asked if work on the access routes into the K Club will be completed in time for the start of the big event in 10 weeks' time.

Less than a mile away the bulldozers were backed up on the road from Maynooth as the workmen sheltered from the rain. Work was over in the afternoon. Still, the media tent transcribers were busy. When Hills' words were finally regurgitated for public consumption they had been "tidied up" to read "We are confident that the roads will be ready."

Fretting over potential traffic nightmares is as much a part of the Ryder Cup build-up as speculation over the captain's picks, just as a relatively smooth logistical outcome has been a feature of the tournament's recent history. "I think our biggest problem is going to be managing everybody's expectations to make this the best Ryder Cup ever," George O'Grady, executive director of the European Tour, said of this year's event. "We are confident. But not over-confident."

On the basis of the tour's past record of efficiency Hills and O'Grady are entitled to their confidence. Yet as the biggest sporting event in Irish history looms on the horizon the organisers will know challenging times lie ahead.

Laying asphalt on time is one thing, the smooth transportation of 40,000 fans daily from Dublin to rural Kildare via one of the most inadequate road systems in western Europe is quite another. So too is the security operation in which all ticket holders will be required to produce identification before being allowed through the gates. Cultural clichés are dangerous territory for foreign journalists but Ireland does not strike the outsider as an ideal setting for such a stringent regime.

There are also potential problems on the course with the K Club's greenkeepers threatening strike action in the run-up to the Ryder Cup over a pay dispute. Even if that is settled and the course is in pristine condition on the morning of September 22 when the first ball is struck, it is highly unlikely that the K Club itself will gain much in the way of positive coverage.

Last week the Irish Times newspaper ran an excoriating piece about the Ryder Cup venue, which called it thoroughly uninspiring and comically over-priced, adding that it "symbolised all that is rotten about modern golf."

Unpleasant though such opinions might be to read, the organisers will take comfort in the knowledge that the Ryder Cup is not being staged for golf journalists but the 200,000 fans who attend and the estimated 150 million who will watch on television. Indeed, for the Irish government, which has invested millions of euros in the staging the event, this is about an even wider constituency. "We plan to promote Irish tourism," said John O'Donoghue, Ireland's minister for sport and tourism.